


No Salvation

by ChicagoTeddy



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2015-11-25
Packaged: 2018-05-03 09:38:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5285819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChicagoTeddy/pseuds/ChicagoTeddy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>They were adrift in a dangerous sea on a violent planet all alone and he was dying. And he was trapped with a troll who absolutely platonically loathed him. It couldn’t possibly get any worse.</i>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>AU where the game never happened, and Eridan and Sollux followed in the footsteps of their ancestors.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Salvation

**Author's Note:**

> I started this actual years ago and re-found it on my computer, and as far as writing goes its one of my better works so whatever I figured I'd share it! (Is the homestuck fandom still alive??)
> 
> Basically I listened to "Lover to Lover" by Florence and the Machine the entire time I wrote this which is glaringly obvious.

Eridan had given little thought to the feelings of the slaves he so often transported. He preferred a crew of higher blood caste, but often ferried captured lowbloods to affiliates. This time it was a young psionic, being brought to the empress herself to train as her Helmsman. He was kept in the cells far below deck, extra security measures in place due to the strength of his psychic abilities. 

He was doing a routine walk-about of his ship and decided to pay the wretch a visit. He’d had a stressful week and perhaps he could take out some of his anger on the slave. That was what Captains did, wasn’t it? From what he knew of how Serket commanded her crew this was an accurate assumption.

The yellowblood was incredibly thin, and leaning against the wall of his cell half asleep Eridan could almost make out the faint lines of his ribs. He cleared his throat loudly to grab the male’s attention. He looked up and Eridan was surprised to see his eyes were not the yellow he expected, but blue and red. They looked foggy though, and filled with despair.

“Hello prisoner. Your Captain is doin you the honor a paying your worthless carcass a visit.” Eridan smirked through his pointed shark teeth. 

The captive watched him wearily, expression unchanged. “I’m so fucking honored.” He had a light lisp and his voice was placid.

His lack of fear stung Eridan lightly. He had worked hard for his rank, the least he expected was for pissbloods to quiver below him. “I don’t appreciate the fuckin sarcasm from a worthless dirtscrapin freak like you. The empress has requested you remain intact or else i’d a made sure you were leaking that sorry shade a blood all over your cell.” He snapped.

The weak troll before him remained passive still as he responded. “But you can’t do anything to me. So forgive me if I’m not even remotely intimidated by you or your flashy, overcompensating way of dressing.”

Eridan had had just about enough of the insults. He threw the door to the cell open and grabbed the psionic by the neck, wrenching him up so his feet barely touched the floor, thrusting him against the wall. Eridan was lean, but as a highblood he was stronger than he looked. The captive looked mildly surprised, but met Eridan’s eyes and held them. The gaze made something inside him falter. There was something...there. He didn’t know what it was, but it was a strange feeling wriggling inside him. He pushed the feeling away. Whatever it was, he couldn’t let it interfere. He narrowed his own eyes behind his glasses. “Quite the attitude you have. You’ll be in for a real surprise when the empress gets a hold a you. The strong ones always break the hardest.”

After that Eridan avoided the prisoner, who he found out was called Captor. Sollux Captor. Somehow the name seemed familiar, like a memory of a dream. But that was irrelevant. Soon the captive would be handed over to the empress and he could forget him. It seemed that day couldn’t come soon enough.

~

Sollux felt like he was withering away each day in his cell. Even though they fed him, his spirit was dying. Luckily the violetblooded-nookstain-of-a-Captain Ampora hadn’t returned to sneer at him further. But now all he could do was wait until he was brought to the Empress, and treated even worse than he already was now. Because he had no point of comparison on how a psionic’s life should be, the injustice of it all never really struck him, but regardless he was aware of how depressing it all was. This was his fate. It had always been his fate.

He waited. And waited. And waited. Until one evening something new happened. He could tell something was wrong when he heard the shouts echoing through the ship. They were panicked shouts. Then he heard the sound of shots fired. The ship was under attack. Sollux wasn’t sure whether this was a good thing or not. It probably didn’t matter for him either way. But at least Ampora was in hot water so to speak. He tried to consider his future. He could be sunk with the ship. Although the prospect frightened him, at least death would be a release. 

He could be captured by the attackers. And who knew what they would do to him. Nothing good, likely. Or nothing would change and Ampora and his crew would defend themselves readily.

This prospect seemed more and more unlikely though as he became aware slowly the ship was tilting. It was sinking. It was sinking and he was so far below deck and no one was around. He ran to the door of his cell, tugging aimlessly at the bars and yelling. despite his earlier attempts to reconcile his death, panic was rising in him now. He pounded on the walls and screamed, and it only increased as water began to seep up through the floor and run across his feet.

He heard the sound of someone coming and his heart fluttered with a glimmer of hope. That was until he saw the flash of a familiar cape.

Eridan ran to the cell and quickly began unlocking it. His brows were furrowed in immense concern and he panted heavily. He wrenched open the door and met Sollux’s eyes. “Go!” He barked at him.

Sollux blinked in confusion, too surprised to move. “What?”

“I said go, you dense bootlicker!” He snarled and grabbed him by the shirt front, ripping him from the cell and pushing him toward the stairs. “Get to a boat!”

Sollux ran, and waited to think until he was already halfway up to the deck. The fact Eridan had come back for him puzzled him for a moment, but then he realized that of course Ampora had come back, he was precious cargo. Property of the Empress. But Eridan had made the mistake of not escorting him to the lifeboats. Maybe now was his chance to escape. If he could find a boat of his own and try to head for land-

On the deck it was chaos. Canons flew left and right, and a lot of crew already lay scattered about the floor, dead. The opposing ship loomed in the darkness like a monster. He looked frantically for a means of escape as the ship sank faster. He turned to notice Captain Ampora himself not ten feet away. He was desperately trying to get his crew to safety, pushing them into boats, pulling and carrying the fallen but still alive. It was strange to see him so...caring. It made him feel incredibly uncomfortable. It was easier to platonically hate someone when you envisioned them as evil to the core. But him darting around, looking so scared, stirred feelings that actually vaguely terrified him. Pity.

He was so caught up in his confusion he didn’t notice the mast toppling over, heading straight for him. But luckily Eridan did, and he shoved Sollux out of the way in the nick of time, knocking both of them to the ground in a heap. Sollux didn’t have time to consider this action like the rest though, because in that instant a massive explosion rocked the ship, blowing it apart around him, and suddenly he was in the air, debris everywhere, and then he was falling, falling, until he hit the water hard enough to knock the breath from him. With no time to recover he had to kick his feet with all his might in the direction he hoped was up to the surface.

Luckily it was, and he gulped in the air, taking in his surroundings quick enough to notice a limp Eridan sink below the surface close by. He had to make the decision quick, and he dove below, wrapping his arms around the seatrolls body, dragging him up.

He was unconscious, and his ridiculous fashion made him rather heavy in the water. Sollux kicked hard to keep them above the waterline, having never been a very good swimmer to begin with. Bits of wreckage floated all around, some of it on fire. There were bodies too, he realized with horror. The crew had been wiped out it seemed. What was left of the ship he had been a prisoner on was mostly gone below the waves, only the bowsprit sticking into the night sky. The enemy ship sat nearby, reveling in its victory.

Sollux moved to a mercifully empty lifeboat nearby and hauled the Captain into it. Now that he had time to register what was going on, he paused, holding onto the side and treading water. What exactly the fuck WAS he doing? Why had he just saved the life of the nooksucker that had been keeping him prisoner? The entire scenario was so ludicrous to him he nearly laughed. He could just dump the fishfuck into the water now and leave him for dead. As he peered over the side of the boat at him he knew that he would in fact certainly die. He was clearly hurt bad, and unconscious to boot. He would be so easy to cull.

But he couldn’t do it. He tried to imagine it was because of some sort of debt...after all, Ampora had saved him. But the reality was he just wasn’t cruel enough to carry out the act. Not while the sea troll looked so broken and helpless laying there in a soggy heap. It was that horrifying, disgusting emotion again, the one he NEVER wanted to feel for someone so horrible...pity.

 

~  
Eridans brain was a swampy world of half consciousness. He tried to swim through it, tried to discern what was going on, but all he could really sense was the pain. Everything hurt, and when he was lucid enough to feel it to a fuller extent it hurt bad enough for him to emit soft cries of agony until he slipped into the darkness again.

Then his eyes were opening and he could feel a sense of place. He knew he was laying on his back. He was horribly uncomfortable, and a little numb, which he was grateful for because it helped mask some of the incredible pain that lingered just below the surface. The epicenters of pain seemed to be the right hand side of his lower chest, and his right leg, which he knew already was broken. He guessed at least a few ribs were as well. His skin stung also, and he wondered if he had been burned. He was in darkness, but not nighttime darkness, and apparently on a small boat because he could feel the gentle rocking of the waves. Bits of memory seeped back into him. He was on a lifeboat, with the sunshade employed which meant it was daytime. His ship had been attacked. there had been an explosion...

He must have made a small sound of misery because a voice spoke to him. 

“You awake fishbreath?”

The voice was familiar. It was the lowblood captive. He could barely see him through the darkness and his own added haze, but he was keenly aware that he was the only other person with him in the small boat. Perfect.

“W-what happened?” He managed to croak out. The events that had led to the current situation were still a bit jumbled in his aching think pan.

“Your great ship failed miserably and sank and now i’m stuck in this damn raft with the worst troll in the empire.” Sollux replied lowly.

There had been an explosion, he remembered. And that was the last thing he could remember. “But how? How did I-?” He frowned, glancing through the dark around him to motion the lifeboat.

“I pushed your obnoxious spinal crevice in. Your welcome.”

“But why?” Eridan couldn’t hide the confusion in his voice. The lowblood prisoner in front of him could have escaped so easily, could have left him to sink into the ocean, could have let him fry in the burning sun. Was he really so brainwashed he felt he had to save the highblood before him? 

“Because...” Sollux growled. “You saved me. And as much as I dislike you with every fiber of my being, I didn’t want your shitty violet blood on my hands.” 

Eridan didn’t have the strength to consider the ramifications of this as his pain was now peaking. He hissed and gripped at the area where he guessed his ribs were broken, but this only caused a spike in the fiery pain that made him cry out. He could tell he was hurt bad, and if he didn’t find help his wounds would likely be fatal. He could already have internal bleeding, and if not he would surely get an infection before long from his broken bones. And they were in the middle of a vast sea, miles from any city, aquatic or otherwise. 

He was going to venture that the yellowblood had little idea of how to navigate, and he himself certainly wasn’t in any state to be of use. They were adrift in a dangerous sea on a violent planet all alone and he was dying. And he was trapped with a troll who absolutely platonically loathed him. It couldn’t possibly get any worse.

~  
Sollux watched Eridan, pressed against the side of the ship to keep as much distance between them as possible. He half wished the troll had just died quietly during the night so he didn’t have to deal with him, but simultaneously he was grateful to not be alone. Even if it meant being stuck with the biggest douchenub on the planet. Maybe he could somehow make a deal with the highblood for freedom. Or, since that was unlikely, even hold him for ransom. Sollux’s life for the Captains. If anyone even wanted him that was. Trouble was, with the way the sea troll was trembling and writhing around, it didn’t look like he would last until they got back to civilization. While he had been out cold, Sollux had taken the liberty of checking out his injuries. They were significant. His leg was badly broken, and he clearly had some broken ribs based on the bruising forming on his chest. Whether they had punctured any vital organs remained uncertain. On top of that he had some nasty burns.

Sollux had gotten off lucky, his wounds only superficial. Eridan had taken the brunt of the blast. In fact he had probably unintentionally saved Sollux a third time by shielding him. His weaker body might not have survived the force. 

Sollux hated debts. He liked to pretend to scoff at superstition and karma, but letting someone who had saved him numerous times (whether by accident or not) die just didn’t settle with him. Even if he wanted to shove the arrogant troll into the sea.

Furthermore, he also didn’t like seeing other trolls in pain, especially not the severe pain the troll before him was obviously in. It made him feel a bit nauseas, and his head began to hurt. For a few days he couldn’t think of much to do besides occasionally giving him water and bites of fish he caught. Eridan ate little.

The two rarely spoke. What could they really talk about? 

On the fourth day, Eridan finally spoke up. “My crew. Did you see if any of my crew made it?” His voice was cracked from disuse.   
Sollux watched him a moment, then slowly shook his head.

That night he could hear the former Captain crying softly in his sleep.

~

Eridan was used to being a failure in life. It was like the cosmos were against him doing anything right. It was like because his ancestor had been such a successful, formidable Captain with allure and the quadrants to prove it, HE was destined to be the worst, most pathetic excuse of a troll in the universe. The harder he tried the harder he fell. And now here he was. A Captain who had let his entire crew perish. A Captain who hadn’t even had the decency to go down with his ship. The offense was cull-worthy. 

His self loathing hurt nearly as bad as his physical wounds. Nearly. But to add insult to injury, Eridan was also a coward. He didn’t want to die. 

Although if it made all this pain go away he would begin to give it some serious consideration.

The days dragged on slowly. His wounds weren’t getting any less painful, and the lack of nutrients meant he was growing weaker as well. 

Sollux seemed to be doing alright, ironically. He also seemed to be trying to ignore him as much as possible. It wasn’t as if Eridan could blame him. He had every right and reason to despise him. 

But Eridan, despite his pain, wasn’t one to stay quiet for very long, and maybe chatting would distract him enough to relax a bit. If the yellowblood wouldn’t talk to him, he could at least talk AT the yellowblood.

“Sollux. Sollux Captor, that’s your name, correct?”

Sollux shot him a look and a quick nod.

“Right. Sollux. Sol. Can I call you Sol?”

“No.”

“Alright well, Sol. Lux. I know you probably don’t think very highly a me-” The former prisoner glared at him. “And thats totally understandable. To be honest I don’t think very highly a you either. So we have that in common. A mutual disdain a sorts. But we could be trapped on this piece a wood together for an extended period a time-”

“Not if i shove you off.” Sollux hissed, eyes flickering slightly in warning. “I don’t want to be buddies, Ampora. So shut the fuck up.”

Eridan blinked a bit in surprise. He had never been treated like that by someone so far below him. It was oddly...thrilling. He smirked slightly, as much as he could. “I wasn’t askin to be matesprits, pissblood. I just don’t want to sit here havin nothin but my own pain to occupy my time. I just thought it might be nice to have a little chat. Maybe you could tell me what its like to be a worthless piece a trash.” 

Eridan wasn’t being rude for the sake of it, although that was by no means beyond him. He had a plan. It seemed Sollux would only respond when he tried to get a rise out of him. So that’s just what he was going to have to do. Verbally sparring was a form of conversation wasn’t it?

“Couldn’t tell you, since you pathetic highbloods can’t even work a boat without us psionics, so clearly I’m far from worthless. Especially considering I’m apparently worth more to the Empress than a second rate Captain who lets his whole crew die.” Sollux didn’t miss a beat in his sharp retort.

That was below the belt. Eridan could feel the fury boil in the pit of his stomach and he moved to grab Sollux by the shirt front, but just ended up doubled up in pain. “You...wretched...”

The plan didn’t work when he actually got offended enough to hurt himself. He trembled a little. Moving so quickly had been a terrible idea, and now he worried he had really done himself in, possibly having ruptured something. He curled up a little, eyes clamped shut. He hated being this weak in front of Sollux. He hated to seem weak in general. It was humiliating. Worst of all, the agonizing pain was bringing tears to his eyes that threatened to break free if pushed any further. And he’d cull himself before he allowed Sollux to see him cry.

Sollux snickered a little. Cod he was cruel. Eridan was in too much pain to try to continue fighting at the current juncture, so instead just tried to focus on steadying his wavering breaths.

~

Sollux couldn’t remember the last time he had wanted to kick the grubsauce out of someone as much as he did Eridan Ampora.

....So then why the fuck wasn’t he? 

As much as he wanted to kill him, be free of him, be free in general...he just couldn’t. He tried to keep blaming his good nature. But he knew it couldn’t be just that. For some unfathomable reason, he saw something in Ampora. And maybe...maybe he wasn’t wrong. He couldn’t forget the look in Eridan’s eyes when he had told him that the crew had perished. It had been sorrow. Genuine sorrow. So he did have feelings...even if he was a douchefin.

He glanced over at the sleeping form. As usual he was trembling, despite the relatively warm temperature. Sollux could tell he was getting weaker. 

He bit his lip a little. He was actually feeling guilty about what he had said. Maybe going right for the windtube like that had been a little harsh...Fuck. Here comes the self loathing again. Trapped in a boat with possibly the worst troll around for a thousand leagues and he still managed to hate himself more. Now his head was hurting again. He rubbed his temples gently, shutting his eyes. 

As he went over the conversation again in his mind he analyzed it. Overanalyzed it. Maybe Eridan had actually been being genuine in just wanting to talk. 

Or maybe my fucking thinkpan is melting from malnutrition. He groaned. Sooner or later he’d have to talk to Eridan. He’d really feel like a dick if he let him die in silence. Either way, it was going to suck.

Eridan began to whimper in his sleep. It was a bit obnoxious, and it was making him exceedingly uncomfortable. He moved a little closer to him as carefully as possible not to wake him, and looked him over, lifting his shirt gently to examine the bruising on his chest. It looked worse, deep shades of purple under his skin. His nails were digging into the wood of the boat.

Sollux watched him a moment, thinking. 

He scooted as close as he dared to the sleeping troll, then focused on his chest, on the skin that concealed the cracked bones. He focused hard on pushing through the skin with his mind, but carefully. One false move could rocket a rib into a vital organ. His psionics snaked loosely through the muscle and flesh, pulling the bones back into place with the subtlest of movements, relieving the pressure they were putting on the surrounding areas. In his peripherals he could see the sleeping sea troll wince and tense, then relax considerably.

Sollux let go when he was satisfied. He had moved the shards enough to relieve a bit of the pain. It still wouldn’t keep him alive any longer, but maybe he’d quiet down. He already looked more at rest.

Sollux breathed a sigh of relief despite the throbbing in his head. He hadn’t been sure that would work. He had never really done something like that. 

 

~

Eridan awoke feeling considerably better. It still wasn’t great, but for a moment he wondered if he might somehow be recovering. Whatever the reason, he was grateful. 

Sollux was asleep, slightly closer than his usual ‘as far away as possible’ corner. Eridan still hadn’t quite forgiven him for the comment though. He watched him through his glasses as best he could from his prone position.

Why was the coddamn lowblood so infuriating?

He hated him. But...did he really? Or was he mostly just sour that the little wiggler wouldn’t even talk to him? Other than the comments, he had no reason to hate Sollux, besides the fact he was a filthy peasant, which before would have been reason enough. But now, now that they were so far away from everything, Eridan began to wonder what the hemospectrum even meant anyway...it all seemed pretty pointless when you were out here, dying in agony.

All he could really be sure of was of the fact that he was a wretched pathetic excuse of a captain who once again had let everyone down, who no one in the world liked, or even hated enough to form a kissmesitude with. And the fact that the little lowblood nearby had saved his life when he had every reason not to.

Sollux stirred and mumbled in his sleep. Eridan watched him, trying to keep his labored breaths steady. On the off chance that he did survive this, what then? Would things go back to they way they were before? Would he pass on Sollux to the Empress, to live out his days as a slave? Did he have any other choice? Was he in debt to the psionic? He hated all these questions and the feelings they evoked. They made him nauseous. Maybe that was because they made him question everything he had ever been taught, everything he knew about his life and the way the world worked.

In this world, Alternia, in the entire troll race, there was a way of doing things. There was a caste system, and things just _were,_ without any room for question. His role as a violet blooded sea prince meant that he was above most others, and had to act like it too. It was how he had been hatched, and in this world you just fulfilled your role and then died. All he had ever really wanted was to be feared (and loved?). 

But that wasn’t really true was it? 

Eridan’s need to evoke emotions, any kind really, just _something_ were particularly strong before the powerful, heartbreakingly beautiful gazes of the Empress, and of Captain Vriska Serket. Garnering their approval, whatever that meant, was his true goal. Or it had been.

But he could scarcely find the strength to care about either of them now. He knew that neither would bat an eye at his death, though the Empress might be cross about the loss of a good psionic. “It’s probably best this way.” 

“Finally delirious over there?” Sollux asked boredly. Eridan blinked, not realizing he had spoken aloud. In fact, he did feel a bit warm and foggy. 

“Sorry...Just thinkin a my imminent demise.” 

“Christ you’re one for the drama aren’t you. Can’t you just die quietly and honorably instead of whining and feeling sorry for yourself?”

Eridan would have laughed if he could have, but breathing was hard enough. He managed to sit up slightly to glare at Sollux more levelly. “Don’t worry, I don’t expect any pity from a lowblood anyway. Do you even have feelins?”

“Says the narcisistic, megalomaniac slave owner.” Sollux sneered.

“At least my blood spillin in the sea is worth somethin you nook eatin-”

“Pathetic, weak-”

“Pissblooded-”

“Fishfaced-”

As they snapped at each other Sollux had gotten closer at each haughty word until all at once their lips collided. 

Despite Sollux having done virtually all the moving, he seemed more surprised. “What the fuck did you just do?”

“Me?! What the fuck did you do! You disgustin piece of landfill, puttin your dirty mustard lips on me-”

“You’re completely...completely awful...I hate you!”

The both fell silent.

Eridan raised a brow, pain quieted by his utter confusion.

“You...do?”

Sollux backed away nearly frantically. “Oh no...no no no...This is not happening. There is no fucking WAY I am having black feelings for you...”

If Eridan hadn’t been literally dying he might have felt thrilled. Or at least horrified. But mostly he felt tired. “Figures, I finally fill a quadrant an I’m practically dead.” He quipped. 

“No quadrants. Shut your gills. I do NOT...I don’t...”

“You don’t hate me? Or pity me?” Eridan retorted.

Sollux made a sort of strangled grumble of rage and turned around completely in a huff to stare out at the dark ocean.  
Eridan sighed. “If its any consolation, no one’s goin to find out. An...I’m feeling some...some dark things for you too.”  
“Please shut up.” Sollux croaked.

~

Later that night, Eridan refused to eat the fish Sollux managed to catch. The pain was apparently so great now that it was a struggle just not to pass out. He shivered quietly beneath his cape blanket, and Sollux felt pity twining around his stomach and strangling him slowly. 

“Hey guppy, wake up. Look at me and just...tell me where it hurts the most.”

Eridan opened his eyes blearily. “You mean besides everywhere?” His voice was barely a whisper.

“Yes wiseass, point to a spot or something.”

Eridan managed to weakly indicate his rib area once again. 

Sollux assumed most of the pain was infection related, but there was a chance that a bone had shifted and his psionics could help relieve the pressure again. “Listen don’t move or you might die. I’m gonna try something.”

Once more he coaxed out the electric tendrils, only this time the colors reflected in Eridan’s open, wondrous eyes. “You can...move things internally?” 

“Shut the fuck up you moron, talking is moving!”

Eridan clammed up, but kept watching, mesmerized, until something in him shifted and he seemed to gain some more relief. Sollux stopped and met his eyes. “Any better?”

Eridan managed a grateful nod. “Didn’t know you could do that...”

“I did it before while you were asleep.”

Eridan’s shock was palpable. A violet blush crept over his cheeks. “You...did?”

Sollux nodded again.

The sea troll averted his eyes. “Thank you.” He murmured, eerily sincerely.

“Listen I was thinking...” Sollux finally said. “I saw some birds flying the other night. I recognized the species, and they must be going west. Towards land. I can use my powers to push us faster in that direction. And we can hope...that we reach land.”

Eridan watched him uncertainly. “But...why? You’d be givin yourself up.” 

“Well as much as it disgusts me to say, I really don’t want you to fucking die. Christ I hate myself. But yeah, no. I can’t allow it. Not now that I have all these confused feelings.”

“Wow. Thats actually the most romantic thing anyones ever said to me.” Eridan smirked weakly.

Sollux wanted to punch his stupid face. Or kiss it? He wasn’t even sure anymore. Probably both. 

“Sol...I respect this whole hate-love thing we got...but frankly I don’t have the strength it takes to hate right now. An despite bein a fish I’m flippin freezin. So maybe you could hate-hug me?”

Sollux stared at him a moment, registering the question. If Eridan hadn’t sounded so weak, so genuine, he would have jumped into some verbal sparring. But it didn’t seem worth it anymore, and instead he silently obliged, lying beside the trembling highblood, slipping his arms around him. He remembered Eridan looking imposing from behind his cell bars, but now in his arms the other troll felt impossibly small. 

Eridan’s previously labored breath evened out slightly, and he shut his eyes. Sollux could feel him slip into the oblivion of sleep, a sleep a bit too close to death for his comfort. Especially now that his black feelings were slowly softening into a deep red.

As he held him, he put his energy toward pushing the little boat along as fast as he could toward what he prayed was land, and salvation. Whatever that meant anymore.


End file.
